1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to containers that are stackable, in particular, to a stackable container system wherein a plurality of similarly constructed containers are snapped together to form a stackable system of individual receptacles.
2. Background and Prior State of the Art
Stackable containers have been devised wherein one container can be stacked on top of the previous container and subsequently fastened together such that the stacked containers become interlocked. One way of achieving the fastening of one container to a second container has been by threading the bottom of one container to the top of the second container. Another way of fastening containers together involves a plurality of pins in one container which engage slots in a second container.
One problem with threading engagement or the use of pins to fasten containers together is that such container systems are costly to construct. Furthermore, the threading engagement or the use of pins in a container system increases the time required to engage and disengage the containers from each other. This can often be an annoyance.
Another problem is that when the containers are disengaged, one of the containers is subsequently without a lid. Contamination of the contents of a second or bottom container is thus difficult to avoid because the contents are temporarily unprotected.
Another problem with stackable container systems commonly found in the art is that in the systems where the individual containers each have a separate removable lid, the user may have opened several containers. As a result, because the individual receptacles have separate removable lids, there may be confusion as to which lid attaches to which container. In some instances, if the user replaces the wrong lid onto one of the individual receptacles, there may be some inadvertent contamination of the contents.
Also, where the lids are separately removable, there is the possibility that one or more lids belonging to the stackable system may be lost or misplaced. If one or more lids belonging to the stackable system are lost or misplaced, additional lids have to be obtained or the individual receptacle that is missing the lid may have to be discarded.
Stackable containers commonly found in the art are also often constructed such that a fixed number of receptacles are contained in the stackable system. Once the fixed number of containers within the stackable system have been filled, another complete container system must then be acquired because the system lacks the flexibility to add or remove one or more container receptacles to the stackable system.
Another difficulty which often arises with the use of the prior art type container systems stems from an inability to easily distinguish one container from another. When use is made of a plurality of such receptacles, it is often difficult to ascertain the contents of the individual receptacles without first opening them or taking the system of containers completely apart.